


Dispell the Dark

by CobaltCorvus



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Dark Magic, M/M, Magical problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 06:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12475036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltCorvus/pseuds/CobaltCorvus
Summary: Some painful father/son bonding between Asmodeus and Magnus.





	Dispell the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's a kinda angsty story but I still wanted to put a pun in the title. Old habits die hard.

Alec’s feet left the floor, the force of the blow enough to send him flying clear across the room. It was sheer luck he’d had his endurance and balance runes on just seconds before, otherwise his landing would have ended a dozen stories down on asphalt instead of simply at the edge of the drop. 

“Hello, Magnus.” 

The voice seeped into the room like a draft, emanating from the corner Alec had been near just seconds before. Now it was occupied by a tall, lean man whose only visible feature was his smile. It curled across his face in the dark, glinting white as he spoke. Magnus stood, hand held out with his fingers curled while the demon in front of him finally dissolved in a burst of ashes and smoke. 

“Asmodeus,” Magnus snarled, any fear he might have felt burned away in the wake of rising anger. He thrust out a hand, an incantation on his lips when the man tsked and stepped forward. A quick gesture in the air, one that had Alec starting forward in a futile attempt to stop an attack from the man, but the air remained still and he could have sworn the noise of the mundane traffic outside quieted as well. Whatever spell had been cast had already taken effect.

“Can’t have you doing anything just yet. I wouldn’t mind matching wits and strength, just to see how you’re faring with your magic these days, but I have a better idea. How about I show you what you could  _ really _ do if you put your mind to it.” The words hung in the air, the threat in them clear but neither Alec nor Magnus knew what it could mean. 

“For now, I’m content to just… watch the show.” 

As though those words marked a trigger, the air around Magnus grew thick and heavy. His body a glass container and the magic resonating inside growing louder and louder. Smoke streamed from his hands, billowing in lazy coils around his legs in ribbons of black that trailed toward Alec as he stepped closer. As soon as he came into contact with it, a shock hurtled through him and pinned him in place as his muscles seized from the sheer amount of power that had found an outlet to exploit. His nerves were throbbing, sending searing wave after searing wave through him. 

If this is what it felt like to someone else, Magnus was the battery in the center, burning itself up from the inside out as he expelled every ounce of energy he had. The pitch of the magic climbed higher, his body trembling from the force of it and the feeling of what had once been a warm burn in the pit of his stomach, a safety net of possibilities that he could shape with the snap of a finger, was now a roiling mass that fought to break out of him. 

The man leaned forward, more of his face sliding into the light and the sight of his eyes did nothing to reassure either of them. 

“Do you feel it, Magnus? All that power? It’s all yours and you’ve been wasting it.” The sneer that accompanied it was positively corrosive, engraving itself into the man’s face.

“Alec, stay back,” Magnus warned, his breathing ragged as he struggled to control what was building inside of him. 

“There’s no place for you here, Shadowhunter.” 

Alec took another step forward. His legs burned from the exertion of simply remaining standing against the onslaught swirling from Magnus. 

Magnus trembled, the magic vibrating ever closer to the breaking point with each passing second. His bones felt hollow, what had filled them now draining out of him in wayward sparks that zapped through the air in shallow arcs around him. Everything in sight was tinged in shadows of color, a maelstrom of magic with Magnus at its epicenter. 

A touch, a hand on his shoulder, fingers curling around his own. Alec’s voice.

“-gnus. Magnus! Take what you need.” The words barely reached him, but that was enough. The warm skin was a ground wire, a reservoir to pour into him and fill the cracks that had splintered with the pulsing of the magic. As Magnus pulled the strength from within Alec and let it push out the magic that had started the storm within him, he found his footing again. 

The magic buckled and spun, kicked up into a frenzy around them both but this time, Magnus was the conductor of its movements. Its power obeyed his thoughts, snapping towards Asmodeus in a bolt of light meant to dispel the dark. 

A glitch, a malfunction in reality and the man was no longer there. The tension in Magnus’ spine snapped and he clenched his fist until it felt like he wouldn’t shatter anymore. Until he was solid again, Alec’s hand on his back an anchor to the moment and the need to get back to the loft. 

“Magnus,” Alec’s concerned voice sounded almost fuzzy after the chaos of the last few minutes. 

“Let’s go home. I think we deserve a few martinis after tonight,” he said with a soft sigh, welcoming Alec’s hand on his waist. As he flicked his wrist to create a portal, Magnus was relieved to feel the same warmth humming inside him as always, battered but still bright. 


End file.
